ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Bela Lyon Pratt & The Whaleman Statue
Bela Lyon Pratt (1867–1917) was already one of America’s most accomplished sculptors when he was commissioned to create New Bedford’s Whaleman Statue in 1912. His career included more than 90 public and private commissions, with work connected to the World’s Columbian Exposition, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Mint, and the Boston Public Library.
Pratt’s bronze-and-granite Whaleman, unveiled in 1913, portrays a boat-steerer—the working man at the center of the city’s dangerous whaling industry. Rather than celebrating a single famous individual, Pratt created a monument to the thousands of men whose labor, courage, and skill helped build New Bedford’s prosperity.
Gifted to the city by William W. Crapo, the statue was unveiled on Library Square before thousands of spectators. More than a century later, Pratt’s sculpture remains a powerful example of how public art can preserve local history, giving a face and a human story to the people who shaped a community.
“A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat” — a line from Moby-Dick — is carved into this century-old sculpture. The meaning is stark: either you kill the whale, or the whale kills you.
The Whaleman | 1913 | Bela Lyon Pratt | Bronze & Granite, Photo credit for this piece to goes Singing With Light Photography.
